Charlie "Hooah" Poulton
Chief Warrant Officer Five (CW5) Charles R. “Charlie” Poulton was born on 1 January 1949 in Mount Vernon, Ohio. A 1967 graduate of Mount Vernon Senior High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 1968. His distinguished 35-year military career was defined by adaptability, lifelong learning, and unwavering service in increasingly critical assignments across the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and the broader Army.
After entering service as a combat engineer, CW5 Poulton deployed to Vietnam, where he served with the 20th Engineer Brigade and later as a member of a Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) POW search team from March 1969 to April 1970. Upon his return, he performed duties as a tank and tractor-trailer driver before transitioning to the paralegal military occupational specialty in 1972. From that point forward, he devoted his career to military justice and legal administration, eventually helping shape the very identity and expectations of legal warrant officers across the force.
CW5 Poulton’s legal career began with battalion legal clerk roles across the United States and Germany. His 1979 assignment to the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) marked a pivotal transition. There, he completed both Airborne School and the Special Forces Qualification Course, serving as the Group Paralegal and senior paralegal to the U.S. Army Garrison SJA office at Fort Devens, MA. His broad tactical and legal experiences made him an ideal candidate for commissioning as a Warrant Officer in July 1981.
Over the next two decades, CW5 Poulton held progressively responsible assignments as Legal Administrator at Fort Rucker, Alabama; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Bragg, North Carolina (including during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm); and Fort Wainwright, Alaska. In 1995, he assumed command of the 2nd Warrant Officer Company at the Warrant Officer Career Center, Fort Rucker—the first person selected to lead the unit dedicated to Warrant Officer identity and development. He later transitioned to WOCC Instructor, and in 1999, became Assistant Operations Officer for the Judge Advocate Officer Basic Course at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, Charlottesville, Virginia. His final active duty assignment was with the United States Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, where he retired in September 2003.
CW5 Poulton had an enduring impact on the Warrant Officer Cohort. As commander and instructor at WOCC, he mentored hundreds of future leaders during their foundational education. He modeled the ideal blend of technical expertise and strategic insight for legal administrators. His early paralegal experiences informed his practical mentorship style, while his operational assignments—spanning combat zones, Special Forces, and multinational legal environments—provided real-world wisdom to emerging warrant officers.
His contributions strengthened the Army's legal readiness, particularly in improving post-trial processing, budgeting, records management, and legal personnel operations. His career spanned eras of massive transformation in military justice, from the Vietnam War through the Gulf War and into post-9/11 modernization. CW5 Poulton's example helped standardize the evolving role of the legal administrator, ultimately contributing to the broader professionalization of the JAG Warrant Officer field.
CW5 Poulton’s legacy is symbolized by the Yarborough Knife (#0211) gifted to him by the late CW5 Sharon Swartworth—herself a trailblazer and the first female CWOC. In 2023, on the 20th anniversary of the Blackhawk crash that took Swartworth’s life, CW5 Poulton donated the knife to Swartworth Hall at Fort Novosel. In his words, “This place is home to the Warrant Officer program… it belongs here.” This act underscores his belief in institutional legacy and reverence for the Warrant Officer community’s shared heritage.